HEMODIALYSIS AND THE SPIRITUAL-RELIGIOUS DIMENSION: A FUNDAMENTAL REFLECTION FOR NURSING AND ITS PATIENT

Abstract

Current epidemiology demonstrates that chronic kidney disease is a public health problem faced by Brazil and other countries. This pathology has different impacts on the experience not only of the patient, but also of their family members, social network and professionals who assist them. For this, the literature indicates that both spirituality and religiosity are used as support. Therefore, the objective is to reflect on both dimensions in the context of the chronic kidney patient on hemodialysis and the nursing professional working in the area. Therefore, a reflexive review was made in the Virtual Health Library (VHL) from 2017 to 2021 using the following search key: “Renal dialysis” AND “Spirituality” AND “Religion”. As a result, 29 texts were obtained, which were filtered and reduced to 7 articles read in full. From these, it was possible to elaborate discussion axes: Quality of life, Mental health, Need for holistic nursing care and the nephrological nursing professional and his contact with spirituality and religiosity. Therefore, it was noted as a conclusion that, under the light of Paulo Freire and the National Humanization Policy, the spiritual-religious dimension is essential in the experience of chronic renal patients on hemodialysis, but there are no studies in the area with nursing, which leads to the need for studies on the issue.